Posted by
Joseph Westlake
on
3/11/2011 at 9:26 AM
The 2011 Distribution Conference organized by LIMRA in Orlando highlighted a few important trends surrounding consumers, sales professionals, advisors, product development and regulations. All the keynotes focused on the ‘How To’s’ to handle the various transformations seen in the marketplace and interestingly, most were connected to customer service and sales process improvement.
In a nutshell, life insurers need to focus on these primary areas:
On-boarding process: We’ve seen a big focus on how to get New Financial Representatives (NFR) producing more quickly and the need for insurers to keep them engaged and successful. By implementing a healthy on-boarding system, insurance organizations can ensure a pleasant experience for NFR’s that not only makes them move into the sales cycle quickly, but also encourages loyalty.
Customer relationships and social media: Several of the keynote sessions focused on the reduced ownership of life insurance in the U.S. and how these plans are still sold most effectively through relationships. With the rapid expansion of social media into the daily lives of consumers, there is a clear opportunity here for the industry to do more to connect with people in the medium that they prefer. 
Trustworthy customer service: There was also significant emphasis on reconnecting with consumers who have been through trying economic times and are looking for people and organizations they can trust. New technology can play a role here, but as was expressed in the Disney Institute presentation, sometimes the best approach is a return to basics of setting expectations properly and meeting them when the time comes.
Technology to support sales: Prominence was also given to the need to pay closer attention on the changing life insurance producer demographics. As new salespeople are brought into the profession, they bring with them a preference for a new way of working. Insurers and agencies would do well to invest in tools and processes that support this transformation rather than curbing the instincts of new employees to suit existing, but soon to be obsolete, processes.
There was also a very uplifting speech by Jeff Noel from the Disney Institute who spoke of the many challenges the Walt Disney Company have had and how they grew stronger through even the most turbulent experiences because of their focus on core values of customer retention, employee engagement and brand relationship. This was well positioned considering the state of the economy.
What do you think about these four key topics? Please comment to share your thoughts on these points or add your own takeaways.
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Posted by
Stephanie Castro
on
10/29/2010 at 8:25 AM
Last week, attendees from senior management at Life Insurance companies across the US and Canada convened in South Florida to discuss emerging technologies impacting their business and distribution. As the keynotes and sessions progressed, a theme emerged of how life insurers could “get connected”.
Kicking things off with an informative and entertaining presentation about what he calls “Socialnomics,” was speaker and author Eric Qualman (@equalman). He argues this phenomenon as the future of the way people will buy and sell through sharing ideas and media online.
Life insurers are late entrants to the social media game when compared to some other industries, but if this conference is any indicator, there will be far more life companies joining in the ‘revolution’ soon. Presentations by consulting firms Accenture and ComScore and insurer Aegon spelled out specific, actionable ways that life insurance companies could engage customers online.
As noted in ComScore’s presentation, some life insurers have already made their sites more customer-friendly by adding appointment requests and quote requests to their websites, along with the ability to actually purchase life insurance online as well. Other interactive tools include calculators and creative online display ads to ensure customer engagement.
Additionally, life insurers are keeping things connected when it comes to managing their distribution partners and producers. A presenter from OneAmerica explained how his company had achieved express on-boarding by implementing an online licensing and appointments solution, which decreased turnaround time from over 15 days to only 2 days.
Lincoln Financial and Deloitte spoke about the need for integrated producer and compensation management systems to successfully manage sales performance. They noted the importance of integrating performance data from policy administration and billing systems with payee profile data like hierarchy and territory management. There must also be a connection with downstream systems like finance, payroll and reporting. We’re happy to hear the industry’s focus shifting towards leveraging these system capabilities as our solution has been designed to accommodate both payee profile data and reporting in the core system, to further streamline enterprise architecture.
New York Life presented their case on how they built a connected CRM and producer management system to increase sales force efficiency. It allows producers to access customer information and history, sales performance data, company notifications and news, compensation details and more on a web portal – a capability that our VUE IncentivePoint suite, together with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, VUE Compensation Management, and VUE Producer Portal delivers.
Overall, it was very encouraging to see life insurers moving towards a path that connects them with both forward thinkers in the industry and customers. The visit to the LOMA conference was both enjoyable and informative, and we look forward to participating again next year.
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Posted by
Stephen Bruno
on
3/17/2010 at 2:32 PM
Change over time is commonplace in any industry. The insurance industry in particular finds itself subject to changes that greatly impact business as usual. Regulations, soft markets, and evolving technologies all take their toll on insurance business processes.
Historically known to have a conservative attitude towards change, life insurance companies have slowly but surely opened their doors to incorporating advanced technology into their business processes. Multiple factors are at play behind the industry’s change in attitude, but underneath the shift is a growing realization of the importance of technology in maximizing the potential of life insurance producers.
Let us take a closer look at the reasons why life insurers are looking for more advanced business technology.
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Changing product demography. There was a time when life producers were merely focusing on life insurance products. But today, many producers and agencies are diversifying to promote financial products as well. As this trend continues, carriers need flexible systems with service- oriented architecture (SOA) that can accommodate the complexities inherent in compensation planning for diverse financial products.
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The new workforce. Younger producers are technology-savvy and are not reluctant to switch loyalties if they are not satisfied with their work environment. Carriers need to look for the right tools that not only engage the interest of this segment but are also usable enough for long-standing producers to embrace.
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Access to information. Producers expect online portals or systems that can provide instant access to information for use during customer follow-ups, in addition to allowing them to monitor quota targets and commission payment cycles. Carriers need to look for a system that combines all this information in one place, and communicates it effectively to agents.
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Real time responsiveness. The amount of time spent in performing each task is a huge factor in influencing agent’s motivation. The current generation of energetic workers won’t tolerate a slow moving and time consuming process. Carriers need to ensure that the systems in place not only provide instant access to information, but also speed up policy administration for the carrier.
Carriers need to engage the current generation of producers’ interest by providing them with various tools that make their work simpler, easier and more effective. Incentive compensation management technology can play an important role in maximizing the life insurance distribution channel.
VUE Software offers a suite of products that deliver capabilities that can help life insurers address these concerns. VUE Compensation Management, VUE IncentivePoint and VUE Producer Portal in combination with Microsoft Dynamics CRM deliver a powerful solution that allows carriers to boost overall producer loyalty and productivity. Register for a free product tour to learn exactly how the solution can refine your existing processes to bring substantial ROI.
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